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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226300">Talking in Bed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin'>kaeorin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Loki's Lullabies [52]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfort, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, Reader-Insert, Sharing a Bed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:14:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,587</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You overhear Loki talking to what he thinks is your sleeping form, and things change a little.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki (Marvel)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Loki's Lullabies [52]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>303</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Talking in Bed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The title of this was inspired by yet another poem that I've heard Tom Hiddleston read aloud ("Talking in Bed" by Phillip Larkin, audio <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCpRf5mYg3E&amp;list=PLCwXfpgeXmHHsLbSxDYnSU2dsjM67DdOH&amp;index=13&amp;t=0s">here</a>), but I think this piece feels more soft and loving than the poem itself, which is kind of...people who have already drifted apart? I'm sharing the audio because I love the last line of it, and obviously we all love Tom's goddamn voice, but the story itself does not come from this poem.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At night, when Loki thought you were asleep, he talked to you.</p><p>You discovered it entirely by accident. You hadn’t set out to fool him, obviously: it was just hard for you to fall asleep one night. You forced yourself to lie still, to breathe evenly, in hopes of tricking your mind into believing that your body had fallen asleep, so it might be willing to follow suit. You must have been convincing enough to fool Loki. He’d lain there in silence for a long time, and then you felt him reach for your hand. He laced his fingers through yours and squeezed. It took everything in you not to return the gesture, but you had to get up early tomorrow for a video conference and you were afraid that acknowledging your wakefulness would make it even more impossible to sleep. You’d heard him draw in a long breath and hold it for several long moments before finally letting it out.</p><p>“You are...” He’d paused then, like he couldn’t find the right words, and you almost had to catch your breath. You were certain that he was going to smirk and press his fingers against your ribcage and tell you that you were a bad actor. But he turned onto his side and pulled you closer to him, and then let go of your hand only to brush your hair behind your ear. “Miraculous. I didn’t know much about Midgardians before I came here, only what I’d read in books, but when I met you, you turned every last notion I had on its head. I never once imagined that anyone could be like you. I can’t believe how strong you are. I should tell you that more often.” You felt his fingertips brush against the skin of your neck, your shoulder, and did your best not to shiver and give yourself away. </p><p>He’d gone quiet then, pressing his forehead against the back of your head and sighing, long and peaceful, through your hair. Even after his breathing had changed, deepened into quiet snores, you remained awake, now turning his words over in your mind.</p><p>You didn’t say anything to him about it in the morning. What you’d heard him say felt so private, so intimate, that you didn’t want to ruin things by telling him you’d overheard. Maybe you gave him a few more fervent kisses and held him a little more tightly than you normally would, but he didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.</p><p>It happened again a while later. The two of you had dozed in bed after exhausting yourselves together. You weren’t quite asleep yet, but you were...drifting. At first, it’d been hard to know for certain whether he was speaking in his sleep. But he’d caressed your belly and hummed quietly, and his voice came through like a rumble. “Your body is perfect, my love. Every inch of you feels like a brand new discovery each time you bare yourself to me. You are so sweet. So responsive. You are something precious, something to be protected, and every time I lay you down, you make me feel that I am worthy of you. That you can find pleasure in a monster like me is...absolutely confounding.” His voice was thick, like maybe he was speaking around a lump in his throat. Your stomach clenched and you wanted nothing more than to turn over and take him in your arms, but you forced yourself to stay still. “I know you don’t believe me when you hear me say these things to you during the day. I just wish you would.” Then he fell quiet and traced gentle patterns against your skin until you heard him fall asleep.</p><p>If he noticed that anything was different, if he thought it strange how you wrapped your arms tightly around his waist in the morning and did not let him go for ages, he did not bring it up. You did your best, over the course of the next several days and nights, to show him that he was no monster and that he was worthy of you simply because he <i>existed</i>. Several times, you opened your mouth to tell him that outright, but each time you caught yourself and, upon his quizzical expression, merely told him that you loved him. </p><p>Overhearing him the way you had, at night, felt too much like eavesdropping. He didn’t know that you were conscious and listening. Talking to your sleeping form seemed to be a way for him to work through his thoughts. There were several nights that he just mumbled at you about something he was reading, or something Thor had said the last time they’d spoken. He spoke to you normally during the day. Where, before, he had been so guarded and cautious, it was like living in such close proximity was forcing him to let you in. Perhaps he’d never be entirely “open” with you all the time, but it felt like an honor, a blessing, when he let his walls slip a bit. You took to rewarding him every time he did, in hopes of encouraging him to keep it up. </p><p>Nightmares came to him. They happened more frequently than you might have expected for someone like him, but...then again, there was a lot of darkness in his past. Every time he awoke with a start, you did what you could to soothe him and comfort him and make him feel safe again. Sometimes it wasn’t enough, and he had to leave the room to regain his composure.</p><p>On one of those nights, you stayed awake. You listened for the sounds of him moving through the kitchen, following that comforting routine of making some tea, and then you heard him go into the living room. If you weren’t mistaken, you thought you heard the sound of him setting his mug down on the coffee table and...leaving it. You’d chewed your lip in the darkness. As much as you strained your ears, you couldn’t hear anything else to give you any signs of what was going on. What was going through his mind. </p><p>It was nearly dawn when he finally came back into the room. You’d dozed here and there, waking each time to the disappointment of his empty space beside you. He hovered in the doorway, and you got the sense that he was looking at you. You could only hope that he wasn’t torturing himself about something. When he finally allowed himself to slide back under the covers with you, you nearly breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as he was settled, you did let yourself turn over so you could throw your arm protectively across his belly and hide your face in his neck. He laughed quietly and stroked your back.</p><p>He didn’t speak for a long time. Maybe he was waiting to be sure that you were deeply asleep again. But then, just as you’d expected, he let out a shaky breath and tightened his arm around you. “No harm will come to you as long as I draw breath.” It sounded like a prayer, or an incantation. “Not man, not beast, not a single threat in any realm. None of them will touch you. I would wage a thousand wars single-handedly before I allow anything to take you from me.” His voice held a fierce resolve. It was easy to tell that he meant what he was saying. And yet there was also something like a...trembling. That got to you. Had you ever heard him sound so rattled? </p><p>That was enough. You looked up, reached to touch his cheek before drawing in a steadying breath of your own. He paled a bit, looking stricken as he realized that you’d overheard him, but you stroked your thumb across his lips and sat up so you could press your forehead to his. “No one—” Your voice cracked, because of course it did, now that you needed to sound strong and steady. You cringed a little and swallowed before trying again. “No one can take me from you. No one <i>will</i>. And all of that? It goes for you, too. You are mine, Loki, just as much as I am yours, and I am <i>really good</i> at fighting for what’s mine.” Maybe it was a little bit silly, being a frail little human and trying to sound tough to a god like Loki. But you meant it. </p><p>To his credit, he did not so much as crack a smile. Instead, he reached up to cup your face in his palms and keep you close. For a long time, the two of you just looked at each other. There were wordless depths in his eyes that you found needed no translation. You felt your own eyes well with tears—not sadness, just...intensity, and he gently kissed each of your eyelids. You did not need to open your eyes to find his lips, and slanted your mouth against his. You loved his hands on you, his lips, his tongue, and you allowed yourself to get lost in his kiss for who knows how long. When you did finally pull away, you pressed smaller, softer kisses to each of his cheekbones. His forehead. His nose. His chin. He let out a sigh that sounded like it came from deep inside of him, and you felt his body relax beneath you.</p><p>“You can sleep now,” you murmured. “I’ve got you.” </p><p>And he did.</p>
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